It means nothing
by Lets go skydiving
Summary: Even though they both agreed it meant nothing, it meant everything in the end. T to be safe


**A/N: This is my first fan fiction ever. I think it is pretty horrible, but my friend said I should create an account and upload it.**

**Who knows, I might write another?**  


* * *

**It means nothing**

Hermione sat at the table, engrossed in her book. It was the complete history of the western spells.  
"Looks good" Ginny said, trying to relate. Hermione was always fairly quiet around meal time, especially after what happened with Ron. She seemed to have a never ending supply of new books. After what seemed like a never ending silence, Harry spoke up.  
"So, how did the date go?"  
_Crap, shouldn't have asked that_.  
He immediately regretted breaking the silence.  
Ron turned a shade of red even his hair couldn't match.  
Things between him and Hermione had been a little awkward since their relationship didn't work out. She had tried to make it happen. She wanted him and loved him, but Ron wasn't comfortable with the whole situation. He had pulled the "we're really good friends, and I don't want to ruin that if something where to happen to... us."  
Hermione's head rose from the book.  
"Yes Ronald, how did it go?" She inquired, with a hint of contempt. She opened her mouth to continue, but bit her lip  
_You could've waited, at least a week. I certainly haven't gotten over you just yet_  
"Well, I think me and Pansy really hit it off. She's so sweet and funny and cute and hot and smart..." he rambled, while staring at her.  
"And at the end, we snogged.." Ron turned red again, and Hermione plunged back into her book.  
"I don't know what you see in her, Ron. She's a selfish, horrible, stupid.... pug" Hermione splurted out.  
"Jeez, Hermione. I asked you before if this was okay."  
"I said 'I don't own you', not 'You have my best wishes, have fun getting married'."  
"PLUS, I swore she had a thing for Malfoy. You know, she's probably using you." She added.  
"No, she told me she had grown up, and if you can't accept that we can't be friends." Ron mumbled.

There was another silence. Ginny and Harry both looked at each other.  
'_We should help her. She really likes him._' Ginny's head tilted.  
'_I love them both, but they need to work it out themselves_.' Harry stared, as if he knew what Ginny was saying.  
'_But she obviously loves him. It hurts to see her like this._'

Hermione regained composure and placed more bacon on her plate.

Most mornings had been like this. They always end up with Ron and Hermione getting into an argument followed by silence. Ron moved his egg around the plate, not picking it up, just pushing it around.  
"Oh for merlins sake, stop making a scene Ron. Go out with her, I don't care." Hermione finally said, nearly shouting ending another silence.  
"But you just said.. and for the information, **you're ** the one making a scene." Ron scowled.

"Oh, look at the time, Ginny. Don't we have..." Harry started speaking  
"Uhhhhh.... quidditch practice today?" Ginny finished, nodding furiously.  
Harry tugged at Ron's arm.  
"Hey. What are you doing? We're not scheduled in until Tuesday? I thought Huffl-"  
Harry jerked him up.  
"Oh no, we managed to make a deal, didn't we Ginny?" Harry said nodding, hoping she would continue to play along. The three of them walked out of the hall, leaving Hermione there.

"Good riddance." She sighed.  
She proceeded to chew on her bacon while reading.

**-------------------------**

Draco sat at the Slytherin table, chewing on a chocolate muffin. His eyes darted around the hall, interested in what everyone was doing. He saw the usual first years, still in the honeymoon period. There was the third years, who walked around like they owned the place. There was the sixth years laughing at the fifth grader at the Ravenclaw table, and there was Hermione.  
_Huh, another book. Does she ever stop reading?  
_He and Hermione weren't on speaking terms. While they were Head Boy and Head Girl, they still acted like first years around each other. This time, though, the insults were more playful than spiteful. She couldn't pretend that the last six years didn't happen, or that they didn't take such a big toll on her, because they did. But she also couldn't not forgive him.  
After last year, Draco had realised that a witch (or wizard) was still a witch (or wizard) and even if they weren't pure blood, he still had to respect them. It was hard for him to say this, but he knew it was true. She really wasn't a bad person.  
_Heck, if she was in Slytherin, I'd would've been in her pants long ago.  
No.  
No.  
Just no.  
_He didn't _like_ her. He was like any boy when a reasonable attractive girl was in the vicinity. It was natural instinct.

**-------------------------**

_I am so much better than her. For starters, I actually know how to use a wand. I'm not the worst looking either, I mean, I'm not saying I am the most beautiful girl in the world, but surely I look better than her??  
_  
Her head was swelled with thoughts about Ron and Pansy. A tear leaked from Hermione's eye. She refused to let another one show, she was Head Girl, for merlins sake. She knew she couldn't fight off the tears, so she closed the book, pressed it to her chest and walked off the common room.

She slumped onto the chair, threw the book onto the coffee table and cried.

**-------------------------**

"Harry, Ginny, why did you take me here? It's really obvious that we do NOT have the field booked today." Ron asked, annoyed that his breakfast was cut short.  
Harry stopped to think. "Ron, I honestly, truly thought there was a prac-."  
"No. You know what. I can't do this. You probably don't realise this Ronald, but you being there talking like you did was obviously upsetting her." Ginny let out a frustrated noise.  
"But, Harry asked me how it went in the first place. And she asked too." Ron was nearly proud of his defence.  
"You're so stupid sometimes Ron." Ginny said, tussling his hair. "Did you not hear the way she asked?"  
Ron stopped.  
_How could I have missed that?_  
"Well, I need to go now. Some of us have a date." Ron said quietly.

**-------------------------**

Draco walked towards the common room. He muttered the password to the portrait of a man, and tugged on the edge. As the picture started to open, he heard crying. It could only be one person. Only two people knew the password, and most students had better things to do on a Sunday morning. He paused. He had no idea to react to the situation. There was one of his enemies, crying, vulnerable. He had three options.  
1) Walk away now, pretend he didn't see anything and leave.  
2) Take advantage of the situation. Maybe a little blackmail? Or some insults?  
or  
3) Go and talk to her.

It took Draco 10 minutes to make up his mind. One minute he had shut the portrait, next minute he had opened it. One minute he was stepping into the room, next minute he was walking down the hall. He closed his eyes, rubbed his face and walked in.  
"Granger, have you been here all morning?"  
"Piss off, Malfoy. I don't need this right now." She said softly, wiping her red eyes. Her back still faced him.  
"Not going to get rid of me that easily." He smirked, and she couldn't help but smile to herself. "Now, are you going to sit here like this all day?"  
"Probably not. I'll sit up there" She shrugged, pointed to her room and started to walk up the stairs.  
"Don't be like that Granger." Malfoy said, sitting down on the couch and patting the cushion next to him. "Do you want to talk about it?"  
Hermione was never sure what made her compelled to go back and sit down, but she did. There was something about him, he wasn't her friend, and he was stubborn. He never opened up to people, let alone let people see he did show sympathy towards people- like her, especially. Maybe she was curious to see what was really inside of him that made her come back down. She sniffed, folded her arms and collapsed onto the chair beside Draco.  
"What's up, Granger?" He said.  
"You genuinely want to know?"  
"I won't say a word until you finish. Promise."  
"It all started last year. I started to get feelings for Ron."  
Draco scoffed. "Him?! I'd expect more from you Granger. "  
"You promised!" She whined, getting up.  
Draco grabbed her arm. "Sorry." She nodded, accepting the apology.  
She went on for at least two hours, telling him all the details. About how after Ron left Harry and her in the forest last year, how he has gone out with Pansy, about he had said he loved her. And the whole time, Draco kept silent. He was listening.  
"Done?"  
Hermione nodded.  
Draco acted upon his gut, and wrapped his arm around her. He was trying be friendly and understanding- he was trying to turn over a new leaf.  
"You're worried about Pansy? She's probably using him to get to me." He shuddered at the thought.  
"It probably seems so stupid now. And I don't expect you to understand, you are Malfoy after all."  
"You say that like it's a bad thing." Draco smirked.  
"I knew it. Why do I even bother opening up to you?"  
"Granger--- Hermione, you're right. I don't understand. I can't, for one, I'm not a girl.."  
She smiled into his shoulder, so he continued on.  
"..and I have not just come out of a relationship with Weasel."  
"You really have a way with words, Malfoy. You did just say you were with Ron." Hermione chuckled, wiping her eyes.  
"Hey, you know what I meant!"  
"I still think you're a git." She said softly, facing him. There was barely a space between their faces.  
"And I still think you're a stuck-up know it all." He smirked, it was more friendly than self-absorbed this time.  
Draco lowered his arms to see a pathetic Hermione's face a few centimetres away from his own. As if they both knew what was going to happen, they leaned in and their lips touched. After a few moments, realising neither were going to back down, they continued.  
It wasn't a loving kiss, like a couple celebrating their 1 month anniversary, it was a kiss filled with need, lust and anger. He pulled at her hair, her fingers digging into his back.  
Hermione wasn't sure what had caused her to spring like that. Maybe she saw a way to escape it all, maybe she did actually have feelings for Draco, maybe she was just confused. Whatever the reason, she knew she couldn't let it happen again.

Draco pulled away, gasping for breath.  
Hermione looked at him, with wet eyes.  
"This means nothing. Okay?" She whispered.  
"Nothing." He confirmed.  
She pulled him back and they continued for some time. She eventually stopped clawing his back and started rubbing it. He eventually stopped tugging at her hair and began caressing it.  
Draco began kissing her down the neck. She let out a small noise, and proceeded to unbutton his shirt. He picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, still with locked lips.

Hermione woke up the next morning, a little confused and disoriented. She knew exactly what she had done, and didn't regret it as much as she should of.  
"Draco. Psstt Draco." She said, pushing him.  
"Unnmm. What?" He said, half asleep.  
"When I leave this room, this never happened, and we will go back to how things were before our talk?" She half-asked, half-instructed.  
"Okay. After all, it meant nothing." He had a weak smile, before falling asleep again.

She leant down and kissed him once more. She wrapped a sheet around her and walked out. She sat on her own bed, smiling. For some reason, she was happy, she didn't know why, but last night made her think. Slowly, she got dressed and walked out of the portrait. She was nearly at the hall, but made a detour for the bathroom.

**-------------------------**

She stared at the mirror, looking at herself.  
_It meant nothing_ she constantly reassured herself.  
_What happens if he brings it up?  
He agreed not to mention it though.  
And when did we trust him_?  
_We could always ignore him?  
Good plan... just for today.  
_Once again, she found herself debating to herself.  
_But what if it meant something to him?  
Well, we can talk tonight._  
Just as she was leaving the bathroom, Hermione hit someone.  
Just her luck, it was Draco.  
(A/N: I know, I know, it always happens.)  
"Watch where you are going, Granger." He smirked.  
"**You** ran into **me**, you git." She smiled.  
Their eyes met.  
He helped her up, and walked off.

**-------------------------**

Ron sat at the table, looking upset. Pansy had broken up with him. Ginny couldn't help but smile when she heard the news.  
Hermione strode into the hall, waving at her friends. She seemed confident and happy.  
"Jeez, what happened to you Hermione? No one's seen you all day yesterday, and now you're happier than ever." Ginny said, happy to see the improvement in her friend.  
"You know that book from yesterday? It was really interesting! I spent the whole day reading it actually." Only she knew the bookmark hadn't moved a single page.  
"I'm glad _someone_ had a good night." He snapped sourly.  
"What's wrong with him?" Hermione whispered to Harry.  
"Pansy. She dumped him last night. Apparently she was using him to make Malfoy jealous."  
She smiled.  
_Pansy would be jealous if she knew what happened last night...  
_"I hope you can forgive a fool." Ron said, sadly.  
"You know what, I think I can." Hermione replied, smiling once again.

**-------------------------**

**18 Years Later  
**Draco Malfoy was standing there with his wife and son, a dark coat buttoned up to his throat. His hair was receding somewhat, which emphasized the pointed chin. The new boy resembled Draco as much as Albus resembled Harry. Draco caught the eye of Harry and Ginny. He nodded. He was looking for Hermione. She should be here with little Rose.  
She was walking down the station towards Harry and Ginny. Their eyes locked, just for a second. It was long enough to acknowledge each other, but not long enough to raise any eyebrows. They shared an 18 year old secret that had changed them both.

Sometimes, Draco wondered what life would be like if they did make something out of it- if they did continue their relationship, how much better his life could be. She couldn't help but think the same thing on occasion.

Even though they both agreed it didn't mean anything, it meant everything in the end.


End file.
